Designer fashion for a small frame

If you're female and of a very small frame, it's worth checking out Leona Edmiston's range for children. There are two labels--I think they are called Miss Leona and Little Leona. The great thing about this is that the children's label is about a third cheaper than the adult label and when department stores have a 30% sale (like at Myer this weekend), it's even cheaper!

Talking books.

Audiobooks are awesome! I just rediscovered the joy of them. I found the section at Randwick Library and have been working through the crime stories, by people like AA Milne and Arthur W Upfield. This is excellent because like DVDs they are free to borrow, and to actually buy they are exorbitantly pricey - even on itunes, unless it is a public domain classic recorded by a volunteer, but I am fussy about the quality of the reader. Anyway, audiobooks provide hours of gentle amusement, and you can enjoy them with your eyes shut, or while doing craft, or walking, or at work.

By the way, libraries are completely awesome in their own right. They are full of books, DVDs, and other cool things, which you can borrow for FREE, and return them late for a very small fee. And winter is the perfect time to make the most of the library.

Of Books and Birkenstocks

I've worked out a bargain way of buying books and Birkenstocks.

When it comes to books, I'm usually quite happy to borrow them from the library or get them second-hand. However, I don't always have the time to look for second-hand books nor are they always available. So I will usually head straight to booko and let it compare various websites for me, to tell me which is the cheapest online store to get it from. If it happens to be Borders Online, I will hop over to OzBargain and see if there are any valid 20% or 25% off voucher codes and apply it to my order. Savings galore!

If booko tells me that Book Depository is the cheapest, I will visit both the US and UK site to see if there is any price difference. They too do free shipping.

For Birkenstocks, you will rarely find them on sale in Sydney at a Birkenstock outlet. They pretty much never do sales. You'll find them on sale at Hype when they have their post-Christmas 20% off in stock sale, but they don't carry a large range of Birks. You might also find them on sale if a shoe retailer is trying to get rid of the last of their stock. They're not much cheaper at the shopping outlet at Birkenhead Point either. So I turn to eBay. You can get a pair brand new shipped from Germany at about 65% of the original price (and that includes postage). Or you could try Birkibox, which ships directly from Germany and they sell on eBay as well.

Birks are quite sturdy, so I've only bought my second pair after having my first for over four years (and that was wearing them a lot).